When the FR-S was introduced last year, I only had to take one look at it to know that it was going to be big. A lightweight, rear-wheel drive car for under $30k? Definitely. And expected, once we got our hands on one, we asked the question we always ask ourselves.

How do we get more power?

The two standard solutions to this question apply in this case: forced induction or engine swap. There are quite a turbo and supercharger options that are either on the horizon or already released, and we certainly could have gone that route. But... we are Tweak'd Performance, we're the ENGINE SWAP guys, so even though it might sound crazy to pull a brand new engine out of a brand new car... well... we never said we weren't a little crazy. (Speaking of which, anyone need a like-new FR-S engine or transmission? Anyone? No...? Alright...)

Once that decision was made, it was time figure out which engine to go with first... Yes, I said first... this won't be the only one. Options included the Toyota 3S-GTE, a GM LS1 variation, a WRX STI engine, and of course the glaringly obvious choice... the 2JZ-GTE. Why? Sure, it's getting older, but it's legendary in its ability to make big power, we know and love them, and there's massive aftermarket support. But will it fit? Answering that question requires me to tell you a little more about our philosophy here and why we decided to do this swap.

First of all, there are a LOT of 2JZ swapped FR-S out there, one trip to youtube will prove that. However, they all share one thing in common: they are race cars. These aren't cars that people drive on the street, they are stripped, gutted, caged, are running standalone ECUs with aftermarket gauges and self-contained wiring harnesses. They are basically using the FR-S only as a race chassis and nothing else. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, if that's what you want. That just isn't what we set out to do.

That's why, at least for this build, you're not going to see us ripping out the stock wiring harnesses, the dash, the interior, and turning it into just another full-race vehicle. Our goal in doing this swap was to PROVE or DISPROVE the theory that, with the proper mount kit and an engine swap harness, someone could reasonably do this swap in their garage at home, and still want to drive it on the street after. You see, the average FR-S driver probably doesn't want to convert his car into a full-race vehicle. They probably drive it to work, drive it around on the weekend, pick up their girlfriend and go out, whatever. The point is, they want a STREET car, just one with a lot more torque.

So that brings us to our current project. We're swapping a 2JZ-GTE VVTi engine in an FR-S and our goal is to do it with the following conditions:

- No cutting or welding to the chassis of the vehicle- Retain heat and air conditioning- Retain functional original gauges- Retain original chassis wiring harness

Further, our goal is to make the lessons we learn open source to our fellow FR-S owners. If it can't be done, we'll let you know, and we'll tell you why. We're going to tell you what obstacles we find along the way and how we solve them. Our objective is to use the Tweak'd FR-S as a test rig to see what engines fit, how they fit, what needs to be done to make everything work, what's possible, and what's not. Now, that doesn't mean that one day in the future we might strip it, cage it, tuck the engine bay and make it a full-race or full-show car, but that's in the future. For now, it's engine swap time.

4-29 We pulled the factory engine out and began mock-up for the 2JZ with the R154 transmission attached. Removing the old engine was a breeze. Our initial attempt at installing the 2JZ was done with the front bumper still attached. After some very careful effort, it was determined to remove the front bumper and upper core support (which unbolts, very handy) and the radiator. That gave us a lot more room to maneuver and we highly recommend it for anyone considering a swap. Once we got the engine leveled out and the transmission started going into the tunnel, we ran into our first snag: the mounting points on the FR-S chassis for the transmission protruded too much, so the transmission would not fit in the tunnel.

The R154 and V160 transmissions will NOT fit into the FR-S tunnel without chassis modification.

It was tempting to just get out the cutting wheel and welder and remove the mounting points to proceed with the install, but I reminded myself of our goal: no chassis modification. We want this swap to be feasible and the average guy doing a swap in his garage may not have the welding facilities and skills needed to modify a vehicle chassis. Therefore, we're sourcing a slightly smaller, narrower W58 transmission to either prove or disprove that it will fit. If it fits, we WILL proceed with the swap using the W58.

Although the W58 is not as strong as the R154 transmission, we are only planning on running about 400-450whp in this car. Personally I think that 400whp will be perfect for this chassis but time will tell. Now, if the W58 does NOT fit into the tunnel without modification to the vehicle, then it's decision time. Either we break our rule of no chassis cutting and welding, or we look into something else.

At this point I knew that I did NOT want to proceed with the swap using that method. For one, I wasn't happy with having to use the W58 and where the engine was sitting. I simply documented that it COULD be done for future reference of people researching the project. The other option would be to cut the transmission mounting point on the tunnel and move it back by welding it to a different location. Since that was the whole reason that we couldn't fit the R154 transmission in the first time and we were now talking about cutting something on the body of the car, it made sense to go back to the R154 again. So we pulled the engine out, swapped transmissions, and I did a little cutting...

Option 2 - Use R154 transmission and cut the transmission mounting point, move it back several inches, and reweld it.

Pros:- Can use the R154 transmission (possibly the V160 as well)- Allows the engine to be mounted as far back as possible- No modification to the front crossmember or oil pan ribs needed (hood remains to be determined)

At this point I knew that I did NOT want to proceed with the swap using that method. For one, I wasn't happy with having to use the W58 and where the engine was sitting. I simply documented that it COULD be done for future reference of people researching the project. The other option would be to cut the transmission mounting point on the tunnel and move it back by welding it to a different location. Since that was the whole reason that we couldn't fit the R154 transmission in the first time and we were now talking about cutting something on the body of the car, it made sense to go back to the R154 again. So we pulled the engine out, swapped transmissions, and I did a little cutting...

Option 2 - Use R154 transmission and cut the transmission mounting point, move it back several inches, and reweld it.

Pros:- Can use the R154 transmission (possibly the V160 as well)- Allows the engine to be mounted as far back as possible- No modification to the front crossmember or oil pan ribs needed (hood remains to be determined)

so the engine mount points line up perfectly? either boxer or 2jz mount points are identical? Some picture of mounting locations would have been appropriate, as I am very highly skeptical of you, and moving the engine/tran forward and back? How could transmission mount points have any effect on the actual length of the engine/transmission connecting to the drive-shaft? Theres only one location that everhything can fit, you cant ever change the distances from shaft to tranny to engine, last i heard engine mount points arent on a rail or adjustable.... Seems you are focusing on mount points, but the main question is what is the total distance of the powertrain of the 1jz and boxer, and then does that distance exactly match up with the mount points? you are saying the engine lines up fine, just had to move trnny mounts, I am saying that something is fishy here, because you are moving the engine around and not talking about hte engine mount points, as they dont magically move either.

Anyway, I thought you woulda begin with a more subtle swap like a 1UZFE. Shoulda theoretically be with less issues initially.... Interestingly, a more direct competitor to a "monster" Miata perhaps, now that this Mazda is swapped with the all aluminum LS3 nowadays.

This is a cool project. Now I want to see someone take that boxer and stick it in an AE86. Unless someone knows of a FWD trans that would bolt to that motor. In which case I'd be pretty tempted to drop one into an AW11.

I'm looking to build a track only 86 for drifting and since looking at the numbers between building an FA vs engine conversion this is a possible option. If you manage to do this swap without any major issues or headaches I will strongly consider doing it as well.

I'm waiting for more information on this build, mount brackets driveshaft options, wiring harness kits for connections and more cool pics too. Really curious on how this is all going to pan out because I would like to do this swap if I can see all the details before I invest the money for the project. Hope to see some new info soon good luck and thank you for the information thus far.